"Stupid!" she said. "I did not show him every nook. Come!"
So we wandered about, but we brought up at a secluded nook in our clump,
and Eve held up her face to mine. But when I had done it she put her
finger on my lips and listened.
"Sh!" she breathed. And I sh-sh-ed, and heard Ogilvie's voice, but I
could not distinguish any words. Then came Olivia's voice, shrill and
petulant.
"They are not having a good time," Eve whispered.
"He is," I answered; for Ogilvie laughed. It was a merry laugh.
"We don't want to snoop, Adam," said Eve. "Let's--"
"Shall we join the others?" Ogilvie asked, still laughing.
"_You_ may if you like," said Olivia in a voice filled with discontent.
"And leave you here?"
"And leave me here. I'll take care of myself."
"Very well. Good-bye, Olivia. I may not see you again."
"Not see me again? You mean to-day?" Was she regretting?
"I mean for a great many days. Perhaps never."
"Are you going away?"
"I can't tell you. I go where I am sent. Good-bye."
There was a silence. Then, as we stole out, the sound of a single sob.
Then sounds of anger. As we emerged from one side Olivia emerged from
the other. She made straight for Bobby, where he yet stood on the edge
of the bluff, looking silently over the water.
A maid came running out of the house, and went to Jimmy Wales, and
called him to the telephone. In two minutes he came hurrying out again.
"Bobby!" he called. "Jack! Come along. It's a hurry call for the
Nantucket lightship. We'll go with you, Jack. Just as you are."
He whispered to me as he passed. "Submarines reported off the Nantucket
lightship," he said. "All the available destroyers and chasers ordered
there."
Elizabeth was standing near, and she heard. Jack and Bobby and Jimmy
started on a run.
"Good-bye, Jack," Elizabeth called in a clear voice.
He turned and waved.
"Good-bye, Bobby," she called again, but her voice was not so loud.
He turned. "Good-bye," he said. It was like casting at her head a chunk
of ice. Ice would not be the most disagreeable thing on that day, but
one would prefer it in some other way than thrown at his head. Elizabeth
seemed to think so, for she shrugged her shoulders almost imperceptibly,
and I saw tears in her eyes as she turned away.
Captain Fergus hurried after the others, and our other guests melted
away. I found myself standing at the edge of the bluff, just where Bobby
had been standing, and I gazed out over the waters of the bay--as if I
could see the Nantucket lightship! Ogilvie's boat shot out at full
speed, and I watched her until she was a gray speck vanishing into the
grayness. Gazing out and seeing nothing, and thinking of submarines! It
was absurd. They are not, and yet they haunt me. And I looked down at
the little strip of marsh at the foot of my bluff, its waving greens
turned to orange under the afternoon sun. A blackbird was flying over
those green stems waving in the water. The tide was full, and the Great
Painter spread his colors on the little waves. It breathed peace, and
here was I thinking of submarines. I cannot get rid of them. What if
one of these reports turn out to be true? Why, anything might be
happening out by the lightship.
And I saw the red shoulders of the blackbird as he flew. He lighted on a
reed stem, which swayed down nearly to the surface of the water; and so
swaying up and down, he sent out his clear whistle again and again. He
is not troubled by the thought of submarines. His heart is not in
turmoil over them.